1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to door handles, and more particularly to low profile door handles that may be used with sliding doors such as those in use in homes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Sliding doors and handles for use with such doors are known in the art. Typical handles for such doors include interior and exterior handle parts connected to a latch mechanism through which the door may be locked. Such prior art door handles have included bodies mounted to the door and handle portions attached to and extending outwardly from the bodies. These handle portions may be grasped and pulled or pushed to slide the door open or closed. A variety of handle types have been employed with sliding doors. Many of the sliding doors have been of the glass type to allow for the admission of light and for viewing through the glass. Such sliding glass doors enjoy frequent use as patio doors.
Particularly in the home and office environments it has also been desirable to limit or exclude the light entering through the glass of such sliding glass doors or to limit viewing through the doors. Hence it is desirable in many instances to use blinds in combination with the door. Such blinds typically have a plurality of parallel horizontal slats that are adjustable in several ways: they may be raised or lowered to allow light to enter or to block the admission of light, to limit the amount of light entering through the door, or to block or allow for full or partial visibility through the door; and the angles of the slats may be varied to control the amount of light entering or the visibility through the blinds.
However, difficulties have been encountered when using such blinds in combination with standard sliding door handles. The handles frequently interfere with the operation of the blinds. When the blinds are raised or lowered, they may catch on or collide with edges, gaps or surfaces on the handles. When the blinds are operated to change the angle of the slats, the individual slats may catch on the parts of the handles as well. To overcome these difficulties, the operator must frequently dislodge the blinds from the handle parts or hold the blinds away from the handle parts to avoid interference. And in some instances, the slats of the blinds may become damaged when catching on the door handle. Moreover, when the blinds are down and overlying the door handle, the blinds may bulge outwardly at the door handle in an unsightly manner. Similar problems exist when operating vertical blinds.